How to Choose Coloring Pencils When Going Back to School

Pencils are an essential but often overlooked stationery item used by students throughout their academic years. Although only art students tend to use pencils in their higher school grades, choosing the right coloring pencils takes more than looking at the packaging. Finding the best color pencils for you is a matter of personal preference and how you use them, but there are some key features to look for. Some pencils are better for children, others are great for artists or hobbyists. The variety can be a bit daunting, so let’s take a look at everything you need to consider when selecting your new colored pencils when going back to school.

The Different Types of Colored Pencils

There are various kinds of coloring pencils and they’re all used for different purposes. One of the biggest differences between the pencils is the type of binder within their pigmented cores. The binder is what keeps the pigment together and influences the softness or hardness of the lead. Ideally, you want to use pencils with a higher ratio of pigment to their binder. The cores can be oil-based, wax-based, or gum arabic-based (commonly known as watercolor pencils).

Oil-Based Coloring Pencils

Oil-based coloring pencils usually have harder lead cores so they don’t break as easily as wax-based cores would. A vegetable-based oil binder is used to hold the pigment within the core, and some have a bit of wax as well.

These pencils are resistant to water and do not blend as easily so it is much harder to layer colors with them. On the other hand, oil-based pencils create less debris and you won’t notice wax bloom. Also, they are easier to erase if you made any mistakes. Typically, oil-based pencils are only found in art stores and are more expensive than wax-based or watercolor pencils.

Wax-Based Coloring Pencils

If you’re looking for colored pencils that are ideal for blending colors, you’ll likely want wax-based pencils. As the name suggests, these pencils use a wax-based binder that holds together the pigment in their cores. Wax-based pencils are the most common type of coloring pencil and can be found easily in stores at varying prices. However, artists who want to layer their colors will have to look for wax-based coloring pencils that have a softer lead, though these are more expensive and fragile.

Wax-based coloring pencils also lay down less color, so they’re easier to erase than their oil-based counterparts. That makes them perfect colored pencils for children.

Watercolor Pencils

Water-soluble pencils make use of a gum arabic binder to keep their cores’ pigment together. The binder is activated by water, which allows the pigment to blend like watercolor paint. Watercolor pencils are a favorite with artists who enjoy creating beautiful artworks that look like they were painted and enjoy experimenting with textures and colors. You’ll have to use watercolor paper when working with these pencils because normal paper doesn’t work so well with water. 

Because watercolor pencils can be sharpened, they make it possible to create unique effects that you won’t be able to achieve with paint and a brush but still get a painted appearance with your art.

Soft or Hard Core?

Whether you choose coloring pencils with hard or soft cores depends on what you want to do with the pencils. Soft pencils are ideal if you like creamy colors and broad opaque strokes. The harder cores are better suited to detailing but aren’t recommended for covering large areas. Many coloring pencil manufacturers make two grades of pencils: artist-grade and student-grade. The most notable difference between these two grades is the price. Student-grade coloring pencils are more affordable than the artist-grade options.

Coloring pencils with a soft core will create vibrant and intense color, and they’re really good for color layering and blending. But, since they’re so soft, these pencils are fragile and they will break easily and will need more regular sharpening.

You won’t get the same intense colors with hard core pencils, and they don’t make layering and blending easy. But these coloring pencils are fantastic for crisp edges and fine details. They can hold a point well and are going to last longer than soft core coloring pencils will.

If you’re an art student, you may want to look at having both soft core and hard core coloring pencils to experiment with. For regular students, it’s best to look for good-quality coloring pencils that won’t let them down.

Your Application Needs

Before you can choose your coloring pencils, you have to know what you’re going to do with them. The techniques you’re planning to use when coloring will influence the kind of pencils you need. There are basic and advanced applications for pencils, and these methods can cause pencils’ points to break or your paper to get damaged if you’re not using the right pencils.

For example, if you plan to do a lot of shading and blending, you should go for high-quality wax-based color pencils. They typically have higher concentrations of pigment that are ideal for this coloring technique. Soft core wax coloring pencils tend to be the best of the bunch for the most striking results.

And if you’re going to use an advanced technique like burnishing (a back-and-forth method for applying layers of color), you will be better off with wax pencils than oil-based ones. 

Key Features to Look for When Selecting Coloring Pencils

When comparing the different kinds of coloring pencils to each other, there are certain features that can help you make your selection. These features determine your experience with the pencils and you should always keep them in mind when you’re out shopping for new colored pencils.

Quality

It goes without saying, but the higher the quality of your coloring pencils, the better the results you’ll get from using them. Whether you choose artist-grade pencils or go for a student-grade set is up to your expectations, goals, and budget. If you can afford the more premium coloring pencils, you really should buy them instead. It’s better to have spent a few bucks more on good colored pencils than regret using a cheaper set that doesn’t create the kind of colors you desire.

Artist-grade pencils also last longer and their colors do not fade as easily, meaning your art projects or pages in your coloring book will look as nice as they did on the day you colored them for many years to come. Artist-grade coloring pencils are the best pencils for adult coloring books because they contain more pigment and produce rich, bold colors.

Student-grade pencils are suited to younger children who just want to experience the joy of coloring in and giving color to their drawings.

Permanence

Permanence is not something that many coloring pencil users think about, but it’s an important feature to keep in mind. A color’s permanence (also called lightfastness) is its ability to resist fading away over time after being exposed to sunlight. Artists typically give this feature a lot more thought because if they sell artworks, they want it to last forever for their customers. Coloring pencils with good permanence can be very costly, though, so they’re more often used by adults and professionals.

Something to keep in mind is that permanence can vary between brands and pencil types. Look out for pencil manufacturers who know the importance of lightfastness and give their products ratings determined by how long the color lasts. Some brands will list the rating on the pencils themselves, while others will provide that kind of information on the packaging.

Color

The color that you can create with your pencils is an important feature. As is the case with quality and permanence, student-grade coloring pencils have the best color experience on offer. These pencil sets will come in a wide range of beautiful colors, and you can get up to 120 coloring pencils in one collection. The best coloring pencils for artists are usually the sets that offer almost any color gradient you can think of. When you’ve got so many colors to choose from, it’s easier to create masterful and stunning works of art.

Remember that the color of your coloring pencils will be affected by the quality of the pencil’s manufacturer’s design choices, which means cheaper pencils won’t be able to give you such attractive color effects. However, there are many brands that fall in the middle of good quality color and adequate color range.

Choosing the best coloring pencils for your academic year needs more attention than you may think. Unless you’re willing to settle for off-brand, inferior pencils that will need constant sharpening and won’t color as comfortably, you need to consider all the features mentioned here. Take the time to shop around until you find colored pencils that are comfortable to hold, affordable, and create the kind of colors you can enjoy. And if you appreciate the art of coloring, it’s a good idea to experiment with the different kinds of pencils until you find the best one for your artistic tastes.